Replies

The fundamental flaw with socialism is that it devalues the individual. Every human being is unique, and every human being has the right to grow and distinguish themselves individually. If one wants to go live in the woods, off the grid, and write poetry or books that reflect their unique perspective on life, it is their right to do it. Their unique voice has the capacity to enrich the rest of us, because it is different and might add something to our own individuality. The only caveat is that in our individual pursuits we don't hurt other individuals.

Socialism, while touting ‘equality’, is actually extremely hierarchical - much, much more so than free capitalist societies ever are. Every socialist society that you look at has a small number of people, icons, that are worshipped. Few others have the ability to distinguish themselves. Ultimately, this diminishes people.

In a free capitalist society such as traditional America, we don't look at people in government, or in the MSM, or in any aspect of our society, and think of them as our betters. We see a landscape of opportunities, and most of us feel that where we wind up and what we do for a living has more to do with personal choice, where we put our efforts, and some circumstantial contributions, than it does with our personal stature as individuals. A plumber from Akron might be dramatically more thoughtful and creative than a university professor in Boston, or a Senator or a President, and societally we generally all know this. At least until recently we didn't have ‘Dear Leaders’.

Socialism accentuates the importance of ‘the few’, and suppresses the individuality of the rest of society. ‘Activists’ love it, because it gives them a hierarchical structure that allows them to be more important than the homogenous masses they seek to ‘lead’. Just look at this 19 yr. old’s comment that ‘elected office allows you to reach more people’. At 19 he's not concerned with learning from others, or becoming enriched by exposure to other ‘individuals’. He just wants, from his self-indulgent elected position on a school board, to use his new position in the hierarchy to push his views on the ‘masses’.

Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn stated it best in his masterpiece on Leftism. The “equality” of socialism/Marxism/French Revolution, is an absolute rejection of “quality”.

Socialism/Marxism is a mass conformity movement which dehumanizes man and reduces man into an “ant state, a termite state” so to supposedly eliminate the emotions of envy and inferiority. To remove emotions from man is impossible—unless he is drugged or pathological (not taught empathy when in the formative ages). That is why all Leftists want dope legalized and incentives to excel eliminated in schools and in the job markets. Merit has to be eliminated. Excellence is ejected from everything. It is why socialist countries alway collapse. They are reduced to the lowest common denominator, since all excellence is punished and vilified.

Human beings are unique—there is no inherent “equality” in them—they are all different, with different personality, etc. Mass movements—are all about the “herd instinct” —the identitarian nature of man-— immature man is animalistic and he will use identitarian groups as a way to ‘multiply his ego’, (feel falsely important) because man is immature and narcissistic.

Individualism is always extremely hard and takes maturity-—you have to leave the herd. Mises states, “The individual lives and acts within society. But society is nothing but the combination of individuals for cooperative effort. It exists nowhere else than in the actions of individual men. It is a delusion to search for it outside the actions of individuals. To speak of a society’s autonomous and independent existence, of its life, its soul, and its actions is a metaphor which can easily lead to crass errors.”

The “love for otherness” and respect for differences comes from Theism and “intellectual character”. Maturity will lead to elevation above the herd instinct and a moral character to reject behaviors of the “group”.

All mass movements-—the “isms” (communism.socialism, nazism, fascism, progressivism, etc.—all Leftism points to the “specter of a terrifying, bigger and more pitiless conformity”. They all “foster the herd instinct” and use emotionalism and eject wisdom and history; the movements eject the intellect which is what raises human beings above our animal nature—to seek the “other” takes maturity and character.

“Everything which is identical is automatically equal. All political systems which are inspired by the ideal of equality will almost inevitably point into the direction of identitarianism and foster the herd instinct (with subsequent suspicion, if not hatred, for those who dare to be different or have a claim to superiority).”

Socialists/Marxists are extremely immature and intellectually stunted—with no understanding of human psychology or philosophy or history. They are ignorant and their narcissism and pride will make it impossible to “educate” them-—since they “know” everything.

I think it was Socrates who said most people do not understand reality until over 30. Their lack of time on earth gives them little possible understanding of it.

Pride is so typical in the youth who know so very little; today they don’t even realize how incredibly ignorant they truly are-—unlike in Ancient Greece where they associated age and experience with Wisdom. Marxists/socialists can’t survive with Truth, Wisdom, Logic, Natural Law and history-—it all exposes the Big Lie.